Page 44 of The Birchwood House

I remember the days when everyone wore hats, and men always took them off in certain social situations,Elaine thought with a sentimental smile.I never thought about it at the time, but it gave them something to do with their hands. That’s a comfort when you’re feeling nervous, I’m sure.

Elaine felt glad that their home was being used to celebrate history. She loved many things about modern times, but shemissed the past, and she had an additional fondness for history that came before her time. She often wished that people would learn to slow down and appreciate doing the little things for each other more, the way people had in the past. She hoped that the mansion would be able to inspire people, in its own small way, to take notes from the accomplishments of the people who had lived before them. Courage and hard work alongside peaceful, contented lives were a recipe for happiness that many people seemed to have forgotten about.

She led Evan back inside the kitchen, where Audrey was busy polishing a teapot that she’d already scrubbed into a state of perfection twenty minutes earlier. Elaine noticed that her daughter’s cheeks were a bit flushed and that she took an abnormal number of seconds to look up and offer Evan a polite smile.

“Hello, Audrey,” he said. His hands went into his pockets again and then came out a moment later.

“Hi, Evan,” Audrey said, her voice a bit higher than usual. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, fine, fine.” Evan nodded. “Hi, Michelle.”

Michelle turned around from where she’d been pretending to inspect the contents of the dishwasher—which was empty. “Oh, hi, Evan. Would you like a cookie?”

“Maybe later.” He cleared his throat nervously. “Thank you.” He turned back to Audrey, and Elaine noticed a light of attraction spring into his eyes the second he looked at her. “Do you have a moment to speak with me, Audrey?”

Audrey blinked nervously, setting down the teapot with a slight clatter. “Um, certainly,” she said, sounding surprised and a little hesitant.

“Could we step outside?” he asked. “Walk in the garden, maybe?”

Audrey nodded, her cheeks coloring slightly. Elaine and Michelle exchanged a glance.

He wants to speak with her privately,Elaine thought, her heart rate picking up.I wonder what that means? Surely if there was an unexpected issue with the mansion he would tell all of us. This must be something between the two of them.

Evan stepped through the kitchen door and Audrey followed. She made a quick good-natured grimace at her mother before stepping outside, and Elaine chuckled. The second the door closed behind Audrey and Evan, Michelle scampered over to her grandmother.

“Oh my goodness,” she whispered. “Do you think he’s asking her out again?”

“I don’t know,” Elaine said, ignoring the inner voice that was telling her to respect her daughter’s privacy and instead looking out the window at Audrey and Evan as they walked down the steps of the porch together. “They both seem so nervous. Does that mean it’s a negative conversation, or are they both just jittery because they—” She dropped her voice even lower into a whisper. “Because they like each other?”

Michelle tilted her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen Mom act like this. But then again, I’ve never seen her start dating anyone before.”

Elaine sighed, her heart aching for her daughter. “She didn’t act like this when she started dating your dad, but she wasn’t going through heartbreak then either. And getting older changes us. I really don’t know how she feels about Evan.”

“I think that blush on her face tells us everything we need to know,” Michelle replied, grinning.

Elaine chuckled. “Maybe so. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see—that is, if Audrey is even willing to tell us what their conversation was about.”

Michelle’s mouth popped open into a pretend look of alarm. “She’d better! Otherwise I’m going to have to unleash my best puppy eyes on her.”

“Well, we couldn’t have that,” Elaine said, winking.

Michelle went back to her coffee and sipped it aggressively, as if it could help relieve some of her suspense. Elaine smiled at her and glanced out the window again.

What on earth was the mysterious conversation between her daughter and the mayor about?

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Evan stared at his feet as they moved—one in front of the other, in front of the other, in front of the other?—

Around him, the garden of Elaine’s mansion rustled with the sounds of a spring evening. Birds sang short, high-pitched notes from the branches of the trees, and the wind rustled the leaves, making them sound like the swishing skirts of all the women who had lived in the mansion for centuries. There was a peaceful atmosphere in the garden that was almost nostalgic. Evan found himself wishing he lived in a home like the one behind him—one filled with warm, sweet aromas and the sound of music and laughter. The golden lights of the mansion glowed out into the serene dusk, as beautiful as a painting of twilight.

Just open your mouth and speak, Evan,he told himself.The words don’t have to be perfect. All you need to do is speak.

It was the fourth time he’d given himself a similar pep talk, but he still hadn’t managed to open his mouth and start the conversation that he’d come there to have with Audrey. He lived his life always trying to do the correct thing as much as he could, and in this case, he didn’t know what the correct thing was. He knew what he wanted to say to Audrey, but he felt tongue-tied, wondering what the best way was to go about saying it.

He cleared his throat, feeling at a loss for words. He decided to start the conversation with something else, so that he could ease into the whole thing.

“Did you figure out a name for the mansion?” he asked.